"He had made a chart and put it on his bedroom wall," John Osweiler said. "He had his goals lined up, everything he wanted to do all through college. And I remember the two things he wanted to do was play Division I football or Division I basketball."

Today, Brock Osweiler is in his first full season as starting quarterback at Arizona State. The boy who grew up throwing footballs through a tire hanging from a tree has led the Sun Devils back to bowl eligibility, a status they haven't achieved in three seasons.

Entering Saturday's clash with rival Arizona, Osweiler, a junior, should play a significant role in saving ASU's season. The Sun Devils started strongly, but have fizzled, losing two in a row. In last year's win over Arizona, Osweiler's first start of the season, he gathered his teammates late in the game and told them they would not lose. Not on this night.

That's what coach Dennis Erickson loves about Osweiler: his willingness to lead. It's a quality the quarterback has had since he played in youth leagues, where it blossomed both on the football field and the basketball court. For a while in Osweiler's life, this caused a problem.

**

Television analysts mention it every Saturday. Yes, Osweiler is 6 feet 8. And yes, he once committed to play basketball at mid-major powerhouse Gonzaga.

The Bulldogs loved him.

"What we saw in Brock was kind of what Gonzaga was built on," said former Gonzaga assistant Leon Rice, today the head coach at Boise State. "He did all the dirty work and he enjoyed it. I saw him play on the AAU circuit against some pretty good players and they didn't want any piece of him because he would just blast right through them, knock them around on rebounds. He just had a great toughness about him."

One day before his freshman season at Flathead High in Kalispell, Mont., Osweiler and his father traveled to Spokane, Wash., to board a flight to St. Louis for a basketball tournament. While in Spokane, they stopped by Gonzaga.

"We sat down with (coach) Mark Few and he said we have a scholarship for you anytime you want it, just let us know," John Osweiler said. "We left there and talked about it on the way to the airport. He called his mom, and then later that day, he called back (Few) and verbally committed."

Only problem: Osweiler blossomed on the football field. At the end of his sophomore season, Flathead coach Russell McCarvel sent video of Osweiler to a few colleges. The feedback was immediate.

Said McCarvel: "The two biggest things I heard were they couldn't believe he was a sophomore, and they couldn't believe a guy 6-8 was that athletic."

Rice, the former Gonzaga assistant, knew Osweiler's football interest was growing. The two discussed it often. One day, the coach went home and watched Osweiler's football highlight tape. What he saw amazed him.

"I called a buddy of mine who's in the NFL and I said, 'Why isn't there a 6-8 quarterback in the NFL?' " Rice said. "And he said it's about mobility. Big guys aren't usually mobile enough. And I told him, 'Well, this guy's a pretty good basketball player, so he's pretty mobile.' "

Still, Osweiler was torn. Because of the way he was raised, he felt an obligation to Gonzaga. He had given Few his word, so to him, that was it. He told his parents: "I've made up my mind. I'm going to Gonzaga."

Replied John Osweiler: "That's great, but are you doing it for yourself or are you doing it because (the coaching) staff wants you to?"

The two made a list of pros and cons. It went back and forth. Which sport did he enjoy most? Which provided the best path to the professional level? Soon, Osweiler's decision became clear.

The next day, he called Erickson. He wanted to play football.

**

Every season has defining moments. Last year at ASU, the biggest came in the regular-season finale against Arizona.

Osweiler had backed up Steven Threet for most of the year, but he had taken over Nov. 26 against UCLA after Threet suffered his second concussion.

Against Arizona, with the outcome in doubt, Osweiler gathered the Sun Devils in the second half.

"I don't remember exactly what I said, but I do know that I told them that there was only one option, and that was to win this football game," Osweiler said.

It didn't go unnoticed.

"To me, that was the highlight of the whole year, because it was the offense and defense together," offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone said. "There was a little bit of frustration (between the units), but then all of sudden, you turn around and see that they got together as a group and took ownership of the game."

ASU won 30-29 in double overtime. Osweiler, who had thrown for 267 yards, called it one of his worst games as a quarterback, and at the same time, one of the best nights of his life.

"He found a way to be successful, and that's kind of what he's all about," Erickson said.

In his first season starting, Osweiler hasn't disappointed. He's completed 64.8 percent of his passes for 2,890 yards with 20 touchdowns and eight interceptions. After every game, he makes a list of what he needs to work on and each day before practice he reminds himself.

"When I watch him (today), moving around the field, especially pre-snap, he reminds me of everything he did here, directing traffic," said McCarvel, his high school coach. "He knows where everybody is supposed to be. He's just a student."

It took a while for Osweiler to get here. He played in six games as a true freshman, starting one. Last season he was given every chance to win the starting job, but he didn't seize the opportunity.

And yet this season, he has played so well at times that ASU fans have wondered about his future.

"We've had people ask, 'Do you think Brock will leave (for the NFL) this year?' " John Osweiler said. "He doesn't want to leave. He wants to stay for his senior year. He wants to graduate. He's hoping the NFL works out, but if it doesn't, it's important to him to have his degree."

You can bet that somewhere it's written on a chart of goals.

ASU-Arizona rewind: 25 years ago

Yes, this was the famed Chuck Cecil game in 1986, but Arizona State's red-zone offensive mishaps extended beyond the Arizona strong safety intercepting a Jeff Van Raaphorst pass six yards into the end zone and returning all the way for a game-clinching touchdown.

ASU failed three times to score from the UA 5-yard line or closer, and the Wildcats scored half of their points after those failures for a 34-17 win in Tucson. The loss did not keep the Sun Devils out of their first Rose Bowl, but it spoiled an undefeated season.

"We attained our higher goal," Van Raaphorst said. "'When we get to Pasadena, I'm not going to remember Tucson." He fulfilled that proclamation by becoming Rose Bowl MVP in a 22-15 win over Michigan to cap a 10-1-1 season.

Van Raaphorst completed 38 passes for 437 yards in his final Territorial Cup but with ASU trailing 24-10 tried to force a pass to Aaron Cox that the savvy Cecil picked off and converted into one of the signature rivalry moments, officially a 100-yard return.

"I tried to play off him (Cox) and get them to throw to him," Cecil said. "I was looking for him the whole way."

Arizona, with a fifth consecutive win over ASU, finished 9-3, beating North Carolina 30-21 in the Aloha Bowl.